


The Things Better Left Unsaid

by kreamhyuck



Series: Cannot Hide My Love For You [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Comedy, Fluff, Freeform, Jeno narrates Donghyuck and Mark's secret, Lee Jeno-centric, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Noren, a bit reference from weightlifting fairy kim bokjoo, i will tag some more when i think of some, just really mild, markhyuck, originally markhyuck lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-19 23:51:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17611439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kreamhyuck/pseuds/kreamhyuck
Summary: “Hyuck! What are you doing here?” Jaemin got the nerve to smile. “Hy-hyuck… Calm down, I swear, this isn’t what you think it is.” Jeno can feel the tension up to their table as he swears internally. Mark Lee is really dead. It must have been confusing the one who’s flirting with Mark when he asked in a rude tone, “Who the hell are you?” Dead. “Well I’m that guy’s boyfriend, why?!”Or, Jeno had been suspicious of Donghyuck and Mark's relationship that he tries to debunk the theories forming on his brain.





	The Things Better Left Unsaid

“Did you know that genitals are the fastest-evolving organs in the animal kingdom?”

 

A collection of groans echoed through the quiet hall of their dormitory building and a lone _‘Oh’_ from Chenle, who looks genuinely interested from Donghyuck’s trivia, and on his periphery, Renjun is trying to contain his eye roll. Jeno’s eyes quickly darts into Mark’s direction who had the same reaction as the rest of his friend group. He dived his face into his palms and huffed as he looks like he’s internally screaming. Jeno, who would usually ignore his hyung’s actions lingered his eyes a little more. Lately, he’s fallen to this routine of observing Mark and Donghyuck’s responses towards each other. It wasn’t a big deal before. They all know the two have been friends since, like, one, and had each other attached to their respective hips. They knew how Donghyuck gets too clingy with Mark and that the older was not really fond. And that Mark was _exclusively_ straight, the only heterosexual in their circle. Jeno, who was supposed to be his _‘bro for life’_ came out to Mark the day of their winter showcase when he finally realizes why whenever he looks at Renjun, all the tiny hair in his nape would stand and his heart, beating loudly like the bass on his speakers, and that Renjun’s lips have been too plump and attractive lately that Jeno could not _not_ kiss them. It took Mark a second before his eyes are gaping from the confession and his lips slightly parted to draw some air within his suddenly constricted lungs. Jeno, who has been keeping his secret for months finally was able to breath as if there’s nothing clogging his airways. But it was long gone when Mark lifted his hand and pointed just behind Jeno and chills have run down his spine as he hesitantly looked over his shoulder to find Renjun, the same Renjun he’s been crushing on with an expression if not the same, liking to Mark and now Jeno’s own. But that’s a story to tell another day. Things have been pretty complicated, but everything is going _absolutely_ fine now, and maybe Jeno’s been a little bit too bored that he’s indulging himself in this new-found activity of discreetly staring at his two best friends’ _weird_ actions. Jeno made sure to be as vague as possible, reaching for his boyfriend’s hand and squeezes them when Mark finally lifted his face. Jeno noticed the little sparkles on his eyes, probably reflected from the light, or maybe, because of some emotions Jeno dare not to name. Yet. The way Mark stares at Donghyuck’s direction gives Jeno a hitch of his own breath and seconds later, his eyes are landing to a certain Donghyuck, smiling small straight at Mark with flushed ears nobody but Jeno has noticed. It was genuinely intimate despite the screeching noises in the background, courtesy of Chenle and Jaemin cooing at Jisung’s cute antics and Jeno has no idea as to why no one else but him had noticed this development.

 

It all started getting _weird_ that time Mark and Donghyuck made a commotion on their dorm hallways. Being Donghyuck’s roommate, Jeno has been waiting for him, a habit he unconsciously developed from worrying about Donghyuck’s safety since he’s just a natural attractor of trouble. So when Donghyuck’s voice got eerily louder and pitch higher, Jeno huffed and puffed to the door, ready to back up or help his best friend from some kind of fight, but as soon as he saw who Donghyuck was fighting and cursing and screaming at, Jeno hurriedly raced to Donghyuck’s side, grabbing his shoulders to envelope him on a tight hug so as to suppress the heightening anger in the air. Donghyuck was still cursing, his voice muffled from Jeno’s hoodie with a clear shaking on his voice and in a matter of a few seconds, he feels damp on his chest. Mark was not in the best mood too. His shirt was awry on his body, probably from Donghyuck’s grip and stains of blood drops visible. Turns out Donghyuck was the one who got physical. Which was a big shock to both Jeno and Mark. Donghyuck was all bark and no bite. He must have been really upset. Heads started peeking out of rooms and then suddenly, Renjun and Jaemin are running towards them. Jaemin goes by Mark’s side, being his roommate and probably his sole consoler at this point since Renjun chose to go by Donghyuck’s side, caressing his hair as gently as he can. Donghyuck can only sniff and hick as words failed to form on his quivering lips. The time Jaemin had convinced Mark to go back to their room was when Donghyuck finally loosen up his grip on Jeno’s tear stained hoodie. He moved on to Renjun as he nuzzled on the older’s neck despite being taller. The glances Renjun shared with Jeno at that time were filled with hurt, shock, and worry. They saw the duo bicker for almost every day, but never did they cross the line. “ _We kind of understand each other, so, yeah, maybe that’s why.”_ Mark’s words were acquainted with pride and they just know they believe him voluntarily. Mark was always rational despite Donghyuck’s teasing and they, despite the daily banters have great chemistry. And no matter what situation they get in, Jeno is sure those two loves each other wholeheartedly. To prove his point, he reminisces that time Donghyuck bawled his eyes out at 6th grade when Mark hit a tree on his bike and was left with a broken arm. Donghyuck has dragged Jeno everyday to Mark’s house to _nurse him to health_ but all they did was feed Mark chocolates and made him cry over boisterous laughter. Donghyuck has gotten an idea of bringing Mark flowers since he saw this scene on a movie he watched with Jisung where the main character flooded his girlfriend’s hospital room with bouquets. The problem is Donghyuck does not have the money to buy such an expensive bouquet, so he goes straight to his mom’s garden, recklessly pulling daisies and asters like weed, and presented them to Mark one night, fresh with roots and wet earth. They were banned from Mark’s room for three days and Donghyuck was grounded for 2 weeks for sabotaging his mom’s garden. Mark found out about his pollen allergy in the worst way. All sneezes and itchy eyes. There was also this one time when Mark caught a bully shoving Donghyuck to the ground. Jeno was not there to witness it but Renjun vividly remembers the anger on Mark’s eyes as he tell-tales the bravery of Mark Lee over diluted beer and chicken skin. “ _Even from a few meters away, I can feel Mark’s fury!”_ His boyfriend shouted and Donghyuck laughed merrily because Mark got really shy, his ears are dark red. “ _Maybe I should have let him die then.”_ Mark whined but the teasing just got stronger. “ _Oh, you wouldn’t do that. You love me.”_ Donghyuck winked and Mark grunted with an eye roll. You see, that was supposed to be the natural reaction of their golden boy, Mark Lee. May it be a wince, a groan, or a silent treatment, they were his most natural reactions and Donghyuck was immune to all of it as well as their friends. But then, when Mark and Donghyuck finally, _fucking finally,_ decided to talk and resolve whatever it was they were fighting about, was when things got a little cranky. After endless nights of Donghyuck’s Disney movie marathons that got Jeno roped up into during their fights, with courses of words full of spite and most of the time, sadness, in the way Donghyuck delivered them, Jeno was sure their momentum will change. And boy did _it_ really changed.

 

“You really need to stop the staring.” Renjun pinched Jeno’s sides. They were at Chenle’s house marathoning the Harry Potter series on a Friday night. All of them except for Renjun has free Saturdays so they chose to sleep over. Chenle’s bedroom, who was as big as that of Jeno’s living room at his house have all the necessary electronics they need to enjoy the instant convenient entertainment 21st century has to offer. He pouted cutely at Renjun, something he is sure his boyfriend has a thing for, and Renjun could only chuckle. They were positioned in a way their bodies are sticking comfortably, legs tangled with each other despite the expansive property of Chenle’s bedroom that can room at least 15 people. Obviously, Jeno is perched on his Renjun’s side at Chenle’s bed, and the rest refused to join them because quoting Jisung, _“We don’t want to see unnecessary things.”_ Which Jeno took offense at. They were never really clingy in public. Renjun was shy for some reason and Jeno was not just a fan of public display of affection. So, in the end, Jisung chose to stay on the carpet with Chenle, Jaemin relaxed on his knees. Donghyuck and Mark are just by the bed side, situated close (dangerously close) with each other, whispering things to each other’s ears every now and then. Again, Jeno really wanted to point this out, but even when Renjun followed Jeno’s pointed lips on the two, his boyfriend just raised his brows at him and shrugged. “What’s new with that?” Renjun whispered to Jeno as he clutches their hands together. Jeno can feel Renjun’s hot fongertips at the back of his hand and he can’t help the smile forming in his lips. Its times like these when Jeno feels very fortunate that he got to meet Renjun. Out of all the billions of people in the world, out of all the places Renjun could go, it was right next to Jeno’s house, meeting him. When one morning, as he’s waiting for Donghyuck and Mark to show up on his porch, when a big truck parked on the previously empty house where they would often trespassed to, when a little boy with brown hair walked over him, his pretty eyes filled with endless bright stars and a smile Jeno still cherishes up to this day, that was when Jeno became the luckiest guy to roam on Earth. Jeno tightened his grip and smiled wide, eyes crinkling into beautiful crescents. Renjun giggled softly, a thing he does when he finds Jeno endearing, and softly placed a kiss on Jeno’s thin lips. They say you close your eyes when you kiss, but Jeno chose to open his especially at moments when he feels like floating above with his head dizzy from the high of his emotions. There are times like these when Jeno feels like he and Renjun are the only ones in the world and it comes in surprisingly mundane moments. When waking up in the morning, their hair disheveled and bad morning breath, but Renjun still manages to look ethereal under Jeno’s blankets, or when they’re brushing their teeth, trying to fit two people in the small space of Jeno and Donghyuck’s shared bathroom, smiling at the mirror and bursting into laughter. Jeno internally screams in happiness and tried to contain the giddiness of his heart. He’s going to take Renjun for dinner tomorrow, he notes to himself.

Just as Jeno’s eyes goes back to the tv screen to mainly focus on Ron sticking up his wand on the troll, he felt a snort not so far from his left and the eyes of five boys and raised pairs of eyebrows. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Jisung points at Renjun and Jeno accusingly, and later, he’s eating a flying pillow directly aimed at him. Renjun laughs loudly at that moment, and Jeno is proud. It’s been hours and most of them are out like a light (Jaemin, Jisung and Chenle). Jeno throws the trio a look but quits after realizing they won’t even see since they are on dreamland now. So, Jeno chose to just go back and watch when he saw _it._ It has been minutes since Donghyuck had his head tucked on Mark’s shoulder blades. Jeno was waiting for the older to reposition Donghyuck since it’s what he usually does when the younger finally snoozes out. But he doesn’t, so maybe Donghyuck was still awake and Jeno just goes back into watching. But this time, he is sure Donghyuck is asleep, given the soft snores unique on Donghyuck. Mark, who is the most obsessed with the HP series, who was supposed to be excitedly watching, had his eyes planted on other things, namely, Donghyuck’s mop of hair. It was sickeningly sweet, the stare. It’s as if Mark was having a deep, intimate conversation with Donghyuck’s hair strands. Even with the dim lights, Jeno can see the tugging of Mark’s lips upward, his cheekbones getting prominent at every passing second. Mark beams and Jeno was astonished. It’s like the air was knocked out of his lungs as he sees the unusual affectionate atmosphere around his hyung. The Mark that night was tender, gentle, yearnful towards their best friend and then Mark was suddenly centimeters away from Donghyuck’s head, kissing the top of his head like he’s the most fragile thing in the world with his eyes closed and breathing stucked on the back of his throat. Mark moved his free hand and although Jeno could not actually see, he is sure Mark is cupping Donghyuck’s fluffy cheeks, caressing them ever so gently as Mark smiles even more. Jeno’s heart swells in felicity. Then he remembers he was supposed to tell Renjun when he finds the duo doing the suspecting things Jeno has taken a liking of observing nowadays so he gently shook their intertwined fingers and whispered, “ _babe,”_ to let him know of his sightings. But there was no answer. Jeno leans towards Renjun and yet again, he finds his heart swells the third time that night as Renjun cutely wriggled from his position to finally laying his head on Jeno’s lap. “One minute.” He says, but Jeno did not wake him up a minute after. He just let the smile linger on his face as he strokes Renjun’s hair. The moment he tries to spy back to his hyung, he was met with Mark’s brown eyes, crinkling on Jeno. _“Cuties.”_ Mark whispered and turned his head back on the tv, his head layed sideways on Donghyuck’s own.

 

Donghyuck is random. _Very random._ It’s a feature Jeno has chosen to ignore but still gets caught up when he least expected it. This morning is one of those time. “How did you offer Injunnie to have sex?” To say Jeno was shocked was an understatement given his milk almost spilled on his nose. Donghyuck, who’s seemingly enjoying Jeno’s suffering giggled in the most annoying tone Jeno swears he only uses when something amuses him. It took Jeno minutes to finally calm the coughing down and the burning sensation on his nostrils to fade away. He sat on his bed, opposite to Donghyuck, and glared daggers at the younger which he knows would not affect the current giggly Dognhyuck, so he just sighed in defeat. Jeno tries to remember, or, he struggled to pull out one of the most embarrassing moments in his life that was resting at the furthest back of his brain, supposed to be stocked there, in the deep dark web of his mortifications. He swallows hard, contemplating on words and sentences he should use. “So?” Donghyuck asked, obviously intrigued and peering. “I- uh… just brought it up? I guess?” That wasn’t what happened at all. It was weeks of sexual frustrations and self-constraint on wanting to shove Renjun on his back to his silk bed covers, to kiss his life out of him and hear him panting, whispering his name over and over again through dry mouth and teary eyes. It was getting too painful to even hug his boyfriend because his thoughts, just like any hormonal teenager, manages to go down to his bottom half in the speed of light. This actually led them in a fight where Renjun gave him the cold shoulder until Jeno has to confess _in detail_ about what was going on with him. It left a bright red Renjun and a shy nod, telling Jeno that yes, it was okay, and he should have just asked. But he can’t just disclose this to Donghyuck. The Donghyuck who loves to tease and wrap him in around his little fingers until Jeno practically begs him to stop. This is grade A blackmail material and in no way can Donghyuck have the liberty of obtaining it only to use it against Jeno and his poor heart. He hears Donghyuck sigh. His face fell flat, and a cute pout had formed on his lips. This is another endearing feature of Lee Donghyuck. He’s alarmingly cute. Mark Lee must be reigning with joy if he really has something going on with Donghyuck. One look at Jeno and the older’s walls are already crumbling to pieces. “Why do you ask though? Do you have… someone?” Jeno asks, unaware that he’s gotten Donghyuck into a corner. The younger took his pillow and shoved his face on it, saying something muffled. “What?” Jeno asks, “I said, I’m just curious! I… don’t have someone. Yet.” “Yet?!” Jeno, who was now realizing that he may be having the biggest opportunity of debunking his theory about his friends, unconsciously shouts a pitch higher than his normal. This seems to startle Donghyuck as his eyes looked away from Jeno’s own and abruptly stood up, his hands fixed by the sides, looking like a meercat. “Uh…” It took three heartbeats for Donghyuck to waltz out of their shared bedroom and into their door. “I’ve somewhere to be!” Donghyuck shouts and then the door was closing. Jeno was left with his eyes shut as he regrets blowing up his chance.

 

One day, Jeno was playing at the local PC Bang with Jaemin, Donghyuck nowhere to be found, when the younger suddenly tells him something fascinating. “You know, Donghyuck has been too busy hanging out with Mark hyung lately, I’m kind of missing him.” “Oh? I thought he was just busy with school and stuff?” “That’s one too! But really, every time I try to invite him out, he’s always up with excuses that involves Mark hyung. It’s like they’re in a relationship or whatever.” Jeno who was concentrating on the game hummed in acknowledgement. Then he says, “Maybe they are?” to test the water if Jaemin could catch up on something Jeno had seen and is now proving. But Jaemin only laughed, that low tone laugh Chenle loves hearing. Not pitchy, not too deep, just the right sound for their ears to tingle. “You know there’s no way!” Jaemin says as-a-matter-of-fact. If Jeno did not knew better, he’ll agree with Jaemin in a second. It has gone down to their history of that time when Donghyuck had an infamous crush in the embodiment of Wong Yukhei, Renjun’s cousin from China, who moved in to their high school. Yukhei was incredibly tall for his age and damn, he has looks that can kill. Yukhei was instantly famous when he shouts “ _Fighting haeyadwe!”_ after the opening speech of the principal, a trail of stifled laughter and an amused bald guy in a suit being the recipients. Given that he’s handsome as fuck, students, both boys and girls got interested on the transfer student with a weird accent. In a span of 3 days, Yukhei made the school his bitch. Lucky for Donghyuck, he’s friends with Renjun, and that automatically makes him a friend of Yukhei. It was the toothy smile, Donghyuck claims. Yukhei was friendly and easy to talk to so he easily integrated himself to their friend group, causing hard rock stomachs from laughing too much. He and Donghyuck got close fast, maybe because their personalities cliqued, and they share a lot of similar interests that lets them have late night conversations and private texts. They were aware that the friendly relationship the two have had gotten a bit of change. They transitioned from two friendly boys into something else. Something Jeno would eventually know as infatuation. At that time, they all thought that it’s going on the right way, but things have been too good and Jeno senses it’s the calm before the storm. Yukhei moves back to China a year later, leaving Donghyuck with a heartbreak. Although according to Renjun, the two still have some forms of communication and that they were still actually friends. Donghyuck confirms this when one day, Yukhei video called when they were lazily passing the day sprawled on Jeno’s bed, his voice echoing throughout the room. And then there was Mark, as they all like to tease him, is embarrassingly straight. No need to prove things there. So, like what Jaemin said, there really is no way the two could, you know, get together. But in Jeno’s defense, Mark’s sexuality is not really a deterrent factor in this getting together thing. And although Donghyuck may still be in touch with Yukhei, it was never confirmed that they actually had a relationship. Donghyuck does not really wanted to talk about it. The way Jeno is seeing things, with all the hushed conversations and secret glances, he knows better than to close off the possibility of their _nonplatonic_ relationship.

 

There was this instance when they went clubbing for the celebration of their finals hell week. They all agreed to meet up at the club, Jeno and Donghyuck arriving last. Smoke filled their lungs and the dim lights constricting their eyesight. Jeno finds Renjun first. Of course, he thought. He always sees Renjun first. The boy had his hair styled and permed which probably gave Jeno a mini heart attack and a rush of chemical reactions inside his body that makes the heat radiate from his face. The group still haven’t noticed them and Jeno took the opportunity to sneakily snake his hands to his boyfriend’s waist, back hugging him in the process. Renjun made a small yelp which is adoringly cute. On a closer look as Renjun tilt his head back to look at Jeno, he can see his boyfriend’s eyelids perfectly decorated with sparkly peach eyeshadow which Jeno really loves and a hint of red tint on his lips. “Hey there.” Renjun says on a saccharine filled tone which made Jeno’s heart race a little faster than it already is. Jeno pressed their bodies closer, enough to take away the remaining spaces that let the cold air brush in their skin. In an impulse, Jeno peck Renjun’s cheek. It’s nothing big but he knows how Renjun gets easily flustered whenever he did things randomly. Jeno let their fingers intertwine as they rest on Renjun’s chest, his thumb drawing circles on Renjun’s hands. “Jeno! Where’s Hyuck?” that was Jisung, who is currently being nursed by Chenle who probably got drunk from his 3rd bottle of beer. “He’s with me earlier, I thought-“ “He went to the bathroom, Mark hyung went with him.” Jaemin said.

 

It has been 30 minutes since Mark and Donghyuck mysteriously disappeared and Jeno, at least for tonight, does not really care. He’s enjoying himself, destressing and having fun with his friends and boyfriend. “Bathroom!” he says, walking away from their spot, swinging. “Want me to come with you?” Renjun asked but Jeno waved him off, telling him he’s fine. Surprisingly for a bar, the men’s bathroom is empty and Jeno have it all by himself. But as someone who is probably drunk, Jeno’s mind chose to bring up his and Renjun’s late night talks about ghosts, how some gets violent and are the most active at midnight. _Midnight._ The ticking of the clock says that it is currently 15 past 12 in the morning and Jeno would not want to see bloody floating bodies that will probably scare him to death. Hurriedly, he tries to focus on urinating and when he’s almost done, he hears something, like a metal dropping on the floor. His tiny hairs stood up as he started shivering. _Why is it suddenly cold?_ After some seconds of freezing, he hears, yet again, a loud thump on the door, probably from the last bathroom stall. When Jeno tried to direct his hearing on that side of the room, he hears faint breathing, delirious and erratic. Jeno tried his best not to cry at the spot. It’s just his luck that he’ll die of heart attack just because there’s an asthmatic ghost lurking around the bathroom. Jeno gulped and tried to contain himself. It’s okay, he’s going to walk out, away from the eerie atmosphere, and into the loud shitty music of the club. When he’s near the door, his hands shaking from the cold, he hears it says. “Ah, ha- hyung… ah-“ Jeno froze. That, was not a ghost. It continued, high pitched moans and muffled thumps. Damn it, Jeno thought. He was going to have a heart attack because of some couple having sex in the bathroom stall. When Donghyuck and Mark finally chose to appear, they were, probably not on their best appearance. Mark had his hair completely disheveled, buttons of his shirt buttoned in the wrong way and his lips plump and wet. There was a smudge of lipstick on his neck while Donghyuck who Jeno knows had put on lipstick before they left had nothing on his lips but… just wet. There’s even a suspicious mark decorating his skin just above his collar bone which Donghyuck scratches. Jeno chose to be ignorant. He ignored every piece of evidence from the theory forming on his loud mind. _Shrug it off. Just shrug it off._

 

Lately, it’s getting out of hand. Jeno just want to sleep peacefully. But Mark has been staying on their room for 2 weeks. Straight. “Hyung.” Jeno starts when Mark had changed into comfortable clothes, ready dive into Donghyuck’s mattress. “Aren’t you… busy?” Jeno asks, tone genuine. He’s been wondering how Mark has been able to manage to hang out with Donghyuck despite the busy schedule he has been juggling since the start of semester and to be honest, Jeno’s worried. He can’t let Mark have another mental breakdown because of low marks. He’s got a scholarship to maintain and it’s just on Mark’s nature to feel obliged in having excellent grades. Jeno does not want to experience again that one time Mark has been too let down and anxious that no one, even Donghyuck, was able to get him out of his bed. Refusing to eat, to talk, and maybe if he can, he’ll refuse to breathe. Thankfully, Donghyuck has had enough and took it upon himself to drag the older out. Maybe it was not the best idea to take a dispirited friend to an ice cream shop in the middle of winter, the weather marking its lowest peak yet again, but Donghyuck is Donghyuck. He works it out. Later that night, A freezing Donghyuck and Mark joined them for Dinner, transmitting the flu to every person on their table. “I am. But I’m managing.” Mark says as he slips himself under Donghyuck’s duvet. Donghyuck joined them later on after showering and they fall under comfortable silence. Jeno is now tucked on his own bed, too timid to even spy on his friends. He can hear them so he’s pretty sure they’re not doing anything weird yet. “We’re matching!” He hears Mark whisper shout to Donghyuck. That made Jeno interested, so with the tiniest energy left on his system, he laid on his side and caught Mark cooing at the watermelon keychain currently on his hold. He knows about that. Donghyuck brought that one time he insisted on third-wheeling him and Renjun at the mall because in his excuse, “ _I am sad and I want to be a bitch to Renjun, so let me come.”_ They were browsing at the bookstore when Renjun pointed out two watermelon keychains displayed on one rack along with many different doll keychains. Jeno is still amused with the way Donghyuck lit up as soon as he had gotten the watermelon keychains on his hold, squishing them gently with a stifled giggle. “I’m getting this for Mark!” Donghyuck says, in an over joyous manner and Jeno swears he said it like he’s a teenage girl talking about her crush. “So pure.” Renjun comments but does not press on why Donghyuck would even get it for Mark. It was Jeno’s idea to make Donghyuck buy two and make them matching keychains. It’s cute and the act is so innocent that Jeno can’t help but feel proud of himself for even suggesting the idea. Donghyuck was hesitant at first, thinking deeply with his pouty lips, but when Jeno pointed out that Mark would probably be elated with them having couple keychains, Donghyuck smiled at him and quickly defended, “Best friend keychains!”

“Jeno and Injun also have their own matching one!” Donghyuck said and Jeno moved his eyes on to his bag where a cat doll keychain is attached on one of the handles. Renjun bought it for them without Jeno’s knowledge and god did it made Jeno fall even more for Huang Renjun for even considering Jeno’s favorite pet as something they could use for couple items. Jeno snickered at the thought and suddenly, he can hear Mark giggling. Jeno had enough of the prying. It was not healthy and it may turn uncomfortable if he reaches to the point where he’d cross the line. So, he’s going to stop assuming and gathering information like he used to do. Jeno sighed. A deep sigh that was enough to get Mark and Donghyuck’s attention. They were looking at each other, eye to eye, when Jeno dropped the bomb. “So, are you guys dating?” Several seconds passed when Mark finally decides to break the unwanted silence. “Yes.” He says, without hesitation and Donghyuck’s head whipped so fast to Mark. Mark took a deep breath and continued. “I like Donghyuck and I confessed to him after that… fight we had. I hope you don’t get weirded out.” Mark then took Donghyuck’s hand, squeezed them lightly until he intertwines their fingers, something Jeno had always wanted to see. “I’m not. I’m actually happy for you, but why are you hiding it from us?” Jeno, despite knowing that his best friends have their own reason, has this bit of hurt on his heart. Did they think their friends would get mad? That Jeno would get mad? That they wouldn’t understand? As one of their best friends, Jeno believed they would trust him, them, more and would not keep any big secret, as big as the relationship that had developed from who knows when. He pouted to let them know how he’s a bit disappointed from their decisions and that he’s willing to hear them out. “I’m sorry Jen, it was my idea.” Donghyuck said as he moved on to Jeno’s bed, hugging him by the side. Jeno hugs him back. “I just, you know how it was between me and Mark, we were best friends, and nothing more. You know that too. I did not want to let you guys be roped up on our feelings when we were just starting because even with the two of us, we were not really sure on what’s supposed to happen. The next step. And I kind of did not want to break the friendly atmosphere we have just because we got together so suddenly. So in the end, we tried to figure things out privately and it worked out! it’s just that, we lost the proper timing to tell you about this, so I’m sorry, I know you guys love us.” Donghyuck squeezes Jeno as hard as he can which is a way to deliver his message. Then, Mark was hugging him too and apologizing for not realizing it would make Jeno upset. Now that he heard it directly, Jeno kind of understands. It was the same for him and Renjun. They were walking on eggshells and really, Jeno was too afraid to ask him out even after accidentally confessing his feelings because it might break the relationship they formed and developed through out the years. It was not helping that Renjun was too shy to properly convey his feelings. It was months of confusion, denials, and heartbreaks but in the end, they worked it out. So maybe, if he was in Donghyuck and Mark’s position, he’d do the same. That night, they slept with legs tangled and light snores, Jeno dreaming about a certain boy with little arms choke holding Chenle.

 

Jeno promised he won’t tell the rest about Mark and Donghyuck’s little secret, and that they will talk to them sooner rather than later. But when things are finally set up, there’s always something that will mess up the whole plan. It was a weekend and Donghyuck and Jeno are lazing around their room, deciding on what they’ll eat for breakfast. “Mark still haven’t replied. Maybe he’s still asleep.” Donghyuck tells Jeno, his eyes closed, nearly dozing off. “Jaemin either.” Jeno informs. Their friend group was supposed to get breakfast at the dorm’s cafeteria and move on to Chenle’s house after wards to continue their laziness streak. Chenle’s room has the best atmosphere to indulge their idleness as the curtains are too thick, sunrays aren’t able to radiate through. In the end, they met up with Renjun at the stairwell near Mark and Jaemin’s room so they can wake them up. “They’re out now, didn’t they told you?” “Told us what?” That was Donghyuck, a clear confusion in his voice. “Uh, the blind date? With some guys from YU?”

 

It was Jaemin’s idea according to Renjun. He tricked Mark into going for he knows the older will refuse him without batting an eye on Jaemin’s famous aegyo pout. But even with Renjun’s loud voice, Donghyuck’s ears seems to have been malfunctioning. His nostrils are flaring with his gaze deadly. Once again, Jeno was the only one to notice. Instead of the dorm cafeteria, they moved their breakfast to the café near the university to spy on the two idiots, Donghyuck’s words. “Wow, they’re getting cozy!” Chenle screeched. It’s amazing how Jaemin and Mark had failed to notice their presence when they were one of the loudest customers there. Mark looks nervous as he fidgets with his hands, his eyes focused on that cheesecake on Jaemin’s side and sure enough, he’s white as a ghost. He’s probably regretting the whole ordeal. Jeno is seating across Donghyuck and boy, Mark Lee is a goner. Donghyuck is angry. No, _very_ angry. He never said a word once they spotted Jaemin and Mark with two other guys, clearly flirting. His lips are pressed on a straight line and his eyes are black from the emotion he’s harboring at the moment. “Oh my god, that guy is so whipped for Mark. Does he know he’s straight?” Jisung whispers to them as he points out the guy with a beret, smiling fondly at Mark. And Mark must have noticed the hot sensation in the form of glare from Donghyuck when he met Donghyuck’s eyes, his mouth fallen ajar. He looks like he’ll faint, Jeno notes. This time, he hears Donghyuck furiously typing on his phone, and when he put it down, Donghyuck pointed at Mark and made a death sign with his thumb, dragged across his neck. “You’re dead.” Donghyuck mouthed. It took minutes as their eyes followed Donghyuck getting up and walking straight on Mark and Jaemin’s table. They hear him say, “Get your hands off him.” When the guy across Mark reaches out to touch his shoulders. Jaemin who was puzzled asked Donghyuck, “Hyuck! What are you doing here?” Jaemin got the nerve to smile. “Hy-hyuck… Calm down, I swear, this isn’t what you think it is.” Jeno can feel the tension up to their table as he swears internally. Mark Lee is really dead. It must have been confusing the one who’s flirting with Mark when he asked in a rude tone, “Who the hell are you?” _Dead._ “Well I’m that guy’s boyfriend, why?!” gasps were heard from other tables as Donghyuck’s voice echoed through the closed walls of the café. Chenle gasped so hard he started coughing as Jisung spitted his orange drink out. Renjun let out a small “What the fuck?” and Jeno, Jeno’s laughing so hard his stomach is having cramps.

 

Jaemin was beaten up by Donghyuck on their way to Chenle’s house as the boy pleads strings of apology, pleading for his life and his face since he needs it for his pretty boy image. Donghyuck was kind enough to let Jaemin’s face go. Mark had it worse, his ears are probably barely hanging on his head as Donghyuck dragged him outside the café, a strong hold on his flexible ears. Mark has no retort on all the things Donghyuck said to him and he looks just as guilty. They let them talk on the guest bedroom so they can have some privacy. When they were at Chenle’s room, Jaemin sprawled above the bed, probably dying at the moment, Renjun turns his eyes on Jeno who was then sitting peacefully at Chenle’s little loveseat at the side of his room. “You were actually right the whole time!” Renjun says to him once he reaches his boyfriend and almost sat on Jeno’s lap. The snicker Jeno gave to Renjun was full of _i-told-you-so!_ Implication and Renjun has to roll his eyes. “I never noticed. They were together.” Renjun said in an affectionate tone, the same tone Jeno used on the two the night they confessed. Jeno knew this will be Renjun’s reaction. Renjun may not say it out loud, but Jeno knows he’s got a soft spot for Donghyuck no matter how bitchy the younger is to him. He’s been a topic of their late night talks and Jeno can note the tender tone he uses when he talks about Donghyuck. “How come he never told me?” Renjun is pouting this time and Jeno can’t help but coo. “Maybe he’s shy around you.” Renjun nodded at that. Maybe it was the late afternoon or the fact that all of them are tired, Renjun rested his head on Jeno’s shoulder and nuzzled deeply on his neck. “How long do you think they’ve been together?” Renjun asks. “I actually don’t know.” “Do you think they already kissed?” Jeno sputtered as the memories of that one night of Donghyuck asking about how Jeno brought the idea of sex and that time at the bar when Mark and Donghyuck mysteriously disappeared while Jeno having heard a rowdy session of a couple in the last bathroom stall, now that everything is crystal clear, Jeno may be shoving some memories on the deepest corners of his brain. There is no way he’s going to talk about it. “Trust me.” He says to Renjun, frowning. “You don’t want to know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ho hey you made it! Thank you for reading! This was supposed to be mainly Markhyuck but I got out of hand with NoRen (lol I love NoRen). I really don't know who the side couple is so I decided there is no side couple at all lmao. I guess I wrote Markhyuck and Noren with equal focus. Uh, and this was an impulsive story so I apologize if there are confusions and lack of story plot. 
> 
> This is unedited, I don't know when I'll be revising the errors but hopefully I'll be able to do it.


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